Purple Dress
by lysjelonken
Summary: The team have to attend another event. Teresa wears a dress again - a purple one - that takes Jane's breath away. Can he realize his true feelings for her in time? Or will she fall into the arms of the mysterious figure from her past? JISBON
1. Chapter 1

**Purple Dress**

**Summary**: The team attends another event. Although there are some minor swabs of Jane/Kristina and Teresa/OC, thats mainly for jealousy and other purposes. It's ALL JISBON!

**Disclaimer**: Not mine, don't own nothin'

It was a beautiful night for such an event – the sky was cloudless, leaving the stars shining brightly and there was a slight cool breeze in the air.

The hall was immaculately decorated with everything looking lavish and decadent, as it should. Music was playing and a few couples have even hit the dance floor.

Jane led Kristina Frye, his date for the evening, out of the passenger seat of his blue Citroen and into the hall. She was smiling brightly, as was he, although his was more of an act than his true feelings. He really didn't want to be here tonight, charming a bunch of rich bigwigs, as Lisbon so eloquently put it. But the event was compulsory and he had to come, so he might as well make the best of it.

He found the team, chatting by a table and led Kristina to it. Rigsby and Cho were dressed in tuxedos, like himself, both looking as uncomfortable with the situation as he felt. Grace took the situation, as he knew she would, to play princess for the night and wore a lavish gown, suiting the occasion. Lisbon was nowhere in sight, but he was sure she was just out mingling with the rich folk.

'So… remind me why we're here again?' he asked, sitting down at an available chair and leaning his arms against the table behind him, looking out to the crowd.

'All the agencies in the area are coming together to do some fundraising or something or other…' Cho stated, not bothering to go into it.

'Where's Lisbon?'

'Here she comes now.'

Jane looked out to the crowd and his breath hitched in his throat. Lisbon has indeed been mingling, and in result, was looking very relieved to be getting a chance to get away from it. But her relieved expression wasn't what had him staring. She was wearing the most magnificent dress he had ever seen. He had seen her in a dress before, at the previous gala they had to attend, but that was nothing compared to this.

The fabric was shiny and deep purple, contrasting beautifully with her pale skin. It's sleeves moved over her shoulders from behind her back and straight down, leaving her neck and chest revealed, and it went down to the floor, flowing at her feet as she moved across the floor. Her hair was straightened and it fell across her shoulders, gleaming in the dimmed lighting. Was this _his_ Lisbon?

She smiled her beautiful smile when she reached the team and greeted Kristina (who Jane had forgotten about for the moment) warmly.

'Kristina, it's so nice to see yo…'

'Wow.' Jane interrupted her speech and continued to stare, before catching himself, and coughing to fill the awkward silence that followed his outburst.

'Hmm, you look… you look nice, Lisbon.'

At this she blushed. 'Thank you, Jane. So how is everyone enjoying the evening?'

Chit-chat was getting stale and Kristina was starting to throw shameless hints to go dancing. Jane, being super-perceptive, caught them, but decided not to react to them. He wasn't in the mood to dance. With Kristina, anyway.

Rigsby and Van Pelt had disappeared to the dance floor for a "friendly co-worker-dance", leaving Cho, Kristina, Lisbon and himself making small talk, waiting for the minutes to go by.

They were in the middle of telling Kristina about Jane's latest antics, when a tall man walked up to Lisbon and put his hands over her eyes. He signaled to them they should stay quiet, causing Kristina and Lisbon to giggle and Jane to become suspicious and… no, not jealous. No way he could be jealous. This is Lisbon, right. Lisbon his boss, Lisbon his co-worker, Lisbon his friend. Nothing more. Then why was he so bothered by the man performing cutesy couple-antics with her?

'Okay, seriously, who is this?' Lisbon laughed, trying to pull the hands of her eyes with no success. This made the mystery man laugh.

The sound of his laughter brought a look of recognition to Lisbon's face and she giggled – Giggle? _His_ Lisbon, giggling? – and turned around, taking him into an embrace. Okay, giggling he might be able to handle, but Lisbon was very anti-PDA. And she was hugging this imposing stranger! Jane could almost not keep the look of disgust off his face.

Who is this guy?

I had to end it there. So you can review! :) YAY! Reviews! They make me so happy, I dance and sing! And post fanfic! :D So please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

**Disclaimer. If I owned The Mentalist, would I be posting JISBON fanfic online? Really? You don't think I'd MAKE IT HAPPEN, ALREADY?**

**The identity of Mr Mystery revealed!**

Bradley Taylor. That was his name. _Bradley Taylor._ Just the sound of it left a bad taste in Jane's mouth. He was just a little bit taller than he was with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes.

Right now Lisbon was introducing him to the team, but Jane wasn't listening anymore. He couldn't get past the way Bradley Taylor's hand still lingered around Lisbon's waist after their hug.

"You're wearing a dress!" "I know. Shut up." Lisbon slapped his chest playfully and pouted. She looked positively adorable.

"So where did you two meet?" Jane asked out of the blue, interrupting Lisbon and Bradley's banter.

"Oh, we met back in San Francisco. I work there in the forensics lab." Bradley answered, smiling charmingly.

"Ah. That's nice. A lab rat, eh?"

"What do you do exactly?"

"Oh, I'm a consultant on Teresa's team." He purposely uses her first name.

Bradley chuckles good-naturedly. "Consultant? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means he stirs up trouble and gets me extra paperwork." Lisbon pipes in, smiling to show she's just kidding.

"He's a psychic." Kristina pipes in. At this Bradley raises his eyebrows.

"There are no such things as psychics." Jane says, repeating his speech for whenever someone refers to him as that. "I just have… people skills." He smiles at Bradley.

In the background, the song changes and Bradley smiles as he recognizes the song choice. "Oh my gosh. I used to love this song."

Jane's smile disappears and he feels cold all over as he recognizes the words. _No. No. Don't ask her to dance. No…_

"Teresa, would you like to dance?" _No! The dance is __**our**__ thing! Say no, Teresa, say no!_

"Sure. See you guys later." She waves back at them as Bradley takes her hand and leads her onto the floor.

"You know, Kristina, I feel like dancing now as well, why don't we join them?"

Kristina, who was talking to some man he didn't know, smiled. She was attempting to make him jealous and regain his attention, he notes. She was probably thinking he fell for it right now, as they quickly moved onto the floor.

The song was slow and melodious, but he couldn't focus on it long enough to recognize the words. He was too busy looking over Kristina's shoulder, eyes darting all around the room scoping for purple. He could feel Kristina leaning her head on her shoulder and sighing contently in his arms. He felt kind of guilty for using her and leading her on. He _did_ ask her here, as his date, and now he was looking over her shoulder searching for his boss… What kind of man did that make him? What kind of…

_There she is!_

She was swaying along with the music, her arms around his neck. They were looking at each other, talking. _Well, at least she's not resting her head on his shoulder. _

"What are you thinking about?"

"Hmm? Sorry?"

"Are you okay? You seem very… distracted?"

"What? No, I'm good, really. I just really hate these type of things." His eyes darted over her shoulder again and she frowned, looking back.

She saw the couple behind them and realization hit her. He felt guilty when he saw sadness and hurt flash in her eyes. Before he could say anything, she smiled and nodded silently.

"It's okay. Don't be sorry. I thought… I don't know what I thought. But, you know what? You deserve to be happy, Patrick. After everything. So it's okay. I'll be okay…" Her eyes were shining with tears, but she was smiling understandingly. "If she makes you happy, go." She gestured behind her. "Before it's too late."

The song had ended during their conversation. Before running off to find Lisbon, he looked back at her and smiled. "Thank you."

With that, he was moving across the floor, looking for her again.

**That button right there? The one that says "Review"? Push it. NOW! Magical fairies will appear and carry you off to a magical land….. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

**Sorry it took so long! I seemed to be writing everything but Purple Dress. Note that this will probably be the last chapter… I think. I might change my mind if enough people want it longer than 3 chapters..? Note please, in this chapter Van Pelt is extremely clueless about Jisbon.**

**Disclaimer: I own Bradley Taylor. But no one else. But I totally own Bradley Taylor!**

She was gone. Seriously? After all that drama, all those decisions, after finally deciding to find her and tell her how he felt about her, she was _gone_?

Everywhere around him there were black, white and jewel tones, but nowhere any purple. None.

She wasn't anywhere on the dance floor. The thought that she left with Bradley crossed his mind, but he quickly banished the thought, not wanting to imagine what could happen if she chose Bradley over him.

He moved away from the dance floor, towards where the team was still standing.

"Have you seen Lisbon?"

Van Pelt answered. "Yeah, uhm… Jane, are you okay? You look real flushed. Is there something wrong?"

"Oh no, no, no. Where did you say she was?"

"She's on the dance floor with Bradley."

"No, no, she's not, I looked there."

"Well I guess then they went somewhere private to talk. I'm happy for her, aren't you? He seems like a really great guy."

"Private to talk?" His heart fell. He was a man. He knew what it meant if they went somewhere private. Bradley would undoubtedly make his move. And, not knowing how he felt about her, Lisbon would go for it. And who knows what would happen then?

"Why are you looking for her so urgently? Did we get a case or something?"

"No, I just really need to talk to her."

"Well then, if you really need to, I'd check the terrace. It's the most romantic place here. If they went to talk, it'd be there."

"Thanks Grace."

Jane ran to the double doors leading to the terrace outside. Before he went in, he looked through the glass, checking if they were there.

Van Pelt was right. Indeed they were there, talking. They each had a glass of champagne in their hand and were looking out at Calirfornian horizon.

The moon was glowed on her skin, making her look even more beautiful than he thought possible. And she was smiling. That glorious smile of hers, the deep dimple in her right cheek making an appearance. He's only ever seen that particular beautiful smile of hers a few times, and here she was giving it to this man just like that.

It made him stop and think.

Should he do this? If this man made her happy, made her smile that _smile_, should he interfere? Should he really sabotage her potential relationship for his own selfish feelings?

On the other hand, he wasn't sure how long he could bear the way his heart fell flat every time his hand brushed the small of her back.

So…

"Hey you two! Bradley, you don't happen to drive a silver BMW, do you?"

Bradley's face turned to his and Jane could tell he was pretty miffed for Jane's appearance. He was about to make his move, ask her out.

"Yeah, that's my car. Why?"

"I'm not sure. But the tow-truck seems to…"

With a small excuse, Bradley stormed out in the direction of the parking lot, leaving Jane and Lisbon alone.

She was still looking out at the scene, sighing softly in admiration.

Trying not to disturb her trance and went to stand next to her.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Her tone was as dreamy as her eyes.

"Yeah…" She turned her head to him. His eyes were on her.

Blushing shyly she looked away. "Is Bradley's car really being towed, or this just another one of your tricks?"

He chuckled at how well she knew him. "Meh… maybe I just needed to talk to you alone."

"And say what?"

He hadn't thought that far…

"Uhm…"

"Uhm? You tricked Bradley into believing his new car is being towed off to tell me… uhm?"

"I'm not sure… I… Teresa, you look very beautiful tonight." She caught his eye. His gaze was intense and meaningful, his face much closer than a few moments ago. The little voice in her head was going crazy, this was unprofessional, inappropriate, and probably most of all _stupid._ Starting something with Patrick Jane wasn't a smart thing to do. But she couldn't stop herself, she was sucked into his sea-blue eyes.

When his lips touched hers, it was tender and sweet. His lips were softer than she ever imagined.

Her hand went to his golden locks, deepening the kiss. His arms snaked around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer.

When they broke the kiss, they stayed in the embrace, faces still close together. She was the first to speak.

"Kristina?"

"She understands. Bradley."

"Just a friend." She smiled when she realized what he thought.

"So that's why you've been acting so strangely… you're jealous."

He chuckled softly. "Purple's really your color, you know."

Her smile faltered. "Is this just about the dress?"

"This is far beyond the dress…"

He pulled her into another passionate kiss, holding her tightly in his arms, determined not to let her go again.

**AND THAT'S IT! UNLESSSSSSS…. You think I should to a prologue-type thing? What happens next? Reviews can change the world.**


	4. Epilogue

**Purple Dress Epilogue:**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Trust me, if it was Lisbon would've worn purple at least once before. I think it'll look great on her! (duh… story name!)**

Jane awoke in an empty bed that smelled like cinnamon. He smiled, as he'd smiled every morning for the last two months, as he remembered where he was. Although the her side of the bed was empty, Jane could hear his partner in the kitchen downstairs.

Quickly pulling on a pair of sleeping pants he made his way down. He stopped at the door of the kitchen, leaning against the frame and watched her.

She was singing along to the radio, making breakfast. She was wearing one of his dress shirts, short enough to give him a hearty view of her legs. He could never get enough of watching her like this in the mornings.

In two short months he's learned so much about her. Like how she can't help but sing along to the radio. How she's unbelievably ticklish and will succumb to anything if you tickle her long enough. How she makes pancakes for breakfast on the weekends and puts way too much cinnamon on it (which explains her delicious scent).

Noticing him behind her, Lisbon giggles. "Watching me again, Patrick?"

Jane is pulled out of his dreamworld. "Well, you're quite a view, Teresa…"

He smiled as his arms snaked around her waist, pulling her into an embrace and giving her a tender good morning-kiss.

She sighed contently and deepened the kiss, forgetting about her breakfast.

After a few minutes, a burning smell filled the air.

"Teresa… pancakes…"

"Oh! Right." She turned in his embrace, trying to save what was left from breakfast.

He took a few steps back, taking her in once again.

He couldn't fathom how he got so lucky…

"…Patrick?"

She was so beautiful… the way her hair fell over her shoulders…

"…Patrick?"

The fire in her eyes…

"JANE!"

"What? Sorry, I'm back."

"What do you think about when you faze out like that?" She chuckled, moving over to sit on his lap and put her arm around his neck.

"You… I love you, Teresa."

She smiled. "I love you too."

He scooped her up under her arms and carried her upstairs. She was giggling, but she knew how lucky she was.

At first she was scared that it was just about the dress. But now she understood this was far beyond the dress.

It was just the dress that started it all.

**I hope this is sufficient. I really couldn't come up with a better epilogue, though try I did! Thanks for reading it, I love the awesome reviewers, you make my day everytime!**

**Love**

**Zanny **


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